x[Verse 1]
C
It was on a dreary new year's eve,
FGC
as the shades of night came down.
FC
A lorry load of volunteers,
AmFG
approached the border town.
CFC
There were men from Dublin and from Cork,
AmFG
Fermanagh and Tyrone.
CAm
And their leader was a Limerick man,
FGC
Sean South from Garryowen.
[Verse 2]
C
And as they moved along the streets,
FGC
up to the barrack door.
FC
They scorned the danger they might face,
AmFG
the fate that lay in store.
CFC
They were fighting for old Ireland’s cause,
AmFG
to claim their very own.
CAm
And the foremost of that gallant band,
FGC
was South from Garryowen.
[Verse 3]
C
But the sergeant foiled their daring plan,
FGC
he spied them through the door.
FC
Then the Sten guns and the rif-les
AmFG
a hail of death did pour.
CFC
And when that awful night was past,
AmFG
two men lay as cold as stone.
CAm
There was one from near the border,
FGC
and one from Garryowen.
[Verse 4]
C
No more he'll hear the seagull cry,
FGC
or the murmuring Shannon tide.
FC
For he fell beneath a Northern sky,
AmFG
brave Hanlon by his side.
CFC
They have gone to join that gallant band,
AmFG
of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone.
CAm
A martyr for old Ireland,
FGC
Sean South from Garryowen.